The provisional entry list for the 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta has been published today. Last year’s Petit Le Mans closed out the DPi era as the top class in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. This year, this ten-hour endurance classic serves as the final chapter in a gripping, six-way […]
The post 54 Car Petit Le Mans Entry List Revealed first appeared on dailysportscar.com.The provisional entry list for the 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta has been published today.
Last year’s Petit Le Mans closed out the DPi era as the top class in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. This year, this ten-hour endurance classic serves as the final chapter in a gripping, six-way battle for the right to be the first GTP Champion.
All ten GTP cars are carrying three-driver crews for Petit. This includes the IMSA debut of Formula One World Champion and SUPER GT GT500 champion, Jenson Button, at JDC-Miller Motorsports; it also includes the season debuts for Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Laurens Vanthoor and Proton Competition’s Neel Jani, and the GTP debut of reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden, also with Porsche Penske.
Meyer Shank Racing, last year’s DPi champion team and defending winners of Petit Le Mans, will be bowing out of IMSA short-term after this race. Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Helio Castroneves will pilot the #60 Acura ARX-06 in its final appearance.
There’s some change in the LMP2 ranks with nine cars entered. The series happily welcomes back the DragonSpeed-run Rick Ware Racing #51 Oreca LMP2 07 with its usual crew of Eric Lux, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Pietro Fittipaldi; and the #88 AF Corse Oreca of Francois Perrodo, Mathieu Vaxiviere, and Emmanuel Collard – who’s back in IMSA for the first time since Sebring 2017.
Sadly, Tower Motorsports’ John Farano and TDS Racing’s Francois Heriau were unable to return to racing fitness before the end of the season. John Falb will stand in for TDS Racing in the #35 for the third time this year.
But Tower Motorsports has brought in a fourth different Bronze driver to close out the season: Aristotle “Ari” Balogh will make the step up from LMP3 to LMP2 at Petit Le Mans, joining IndyCar drivers Scott McLaughlin and Kyffin Simpson.
Speaking of LMP3, this is the final WeatherTech Sportscar Championship race for the lightweight prototype class, and eight entries have turned up.
It’s also the end of an era for Jr III Racing before they become part of United Autosport’s new IMSA LMP2 programme. Jr III is entering just one Ligier JS P320, the #29 for Bijoy Garg, Nolan Siegel, and Garett Grist. It’s worth noting that Siegel is listed to pull double-duty and drive both this car and the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca in LMP2.
Andretti Autosport’s #36 Ligier is back to finish off its Michelin Endurance Cup campaign, and the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Duquiene D08 is also returning for the first time since Road America.
In total, 27 GTD cars are entered including the eight in GTD Pro. This will be the final race in IMSA for the Corvette Racing team as the sole entity that we know it today, and it’ll also be Jordan Taylor’s last as a GM driver. He along with Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner will be determined to close this chapter with a victory before a new chapter is written by Pratt Miller Motorsports.
AF Corse’s #61 Ferrari 296 GT3 is back for its second race and so too is the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, finishing its Michelin Endurance Cup campaign. 24 Hours of Le Mans winners will be in each car; Alessandro Pier Guidi will drive for Risi, and James Calado will drive for AF Corse.
Iron Lynx is back with its #63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 featuring Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper, and Franck Perera.
And the 19-car GTD ‘Classic’ grid features all familiar faces, including Michelin Endurance Cup returnees Wright Motorsports (car number 16), Triarsi Competizione, Magnus Racing, Cetilar Racing, Iron Dames, and Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti.
Kellymoss with Riley is down to just one car after the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R was withdrawn due to an injury sustained by Alan Metni. Turner Motorsport is keeping both cars in GTD this time out, putting the #97 BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Bill Auberlen, Chandler Hull, and Thomas Merrill.
Feature image © Richard Dole / IMSA
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